Concerns

As a student of political science, I have to call attention to the huge gap in the discussion of Marcellus Shale taxation. Should economics trump public health? Natural gas naysayers believe that drillers deplete land value, but drilling also damages the health of those living around wells. Taxes are not the real issue. A tax will not restore the health of those being poisoned by gas leaks and polluted wells. Drilling itself needs to be researched and regulated. A moratorium on drilling in Pennsylvania, similar to New York's ban, is necessary until research establishes once and for all that drilling can be done without contaminating drinking water.

Distrust over Common Core, a national set of educational standards, threatened to derail approval of several planned courses of study at Monday night's meeting of the Catasauqua Area School Board. School directors Christine Naegel, Dawn Berrigan and Christine Nace voted against six courses because they are based on the state's version of the controversial curriculum standards that were developed by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers. The three nays were enough to temporarily halt approval until a absent director arrived at the meeting and gave the board the necessary five votes for passage.

The chairman of Lower Macungie Township's Environmental Advisory Council has raised a number of concerns about PPL Electric Utilities' plan to remove and trim trees in its right of way under power lines. Scott A. Alderfer recently wrote to the township manager asking if the township could require that PPL's contractor — PennLine — "clean up after themselves and not leave cut trees and brush laying where it was cut. " PPL's plans to clear trees under its transmission lines prompted some outcry from residents concerned about the amount of trees that will be taken down in Lower Macungie.

The Forks Township Board of Supervisors is still considering how to address residents' recent concerns about traffic at three intersections they say are heavily traveled, often by speeding cars. Earlier this summer, residents of The Green at Lafayette Park told supervisors they believe that volume in the area has increased since a traffic study was done in 2009 by Keystone Consulting Engineers. Part of the increase in traffic has been due to the addition of a school bus stop. The residents have been asking for stop signs at the intersections of Winchester Drive and Lower Way, Winchester and Knollwood Drive, and Meco Road and Jamie Court.

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — School officials have temporarily moved students out of two classrooms at a northeastern Pennsylvania high school after someone found a bedbug in one of them. Scranton schools Superintendent William King says two unidentified insects were found inside West Scranton High School on Friday and Monday. One of those bugs was saved and identified as a bedbeg by a pest control company. King said the maintenance staff has examined the entire building and found no other bedbugs.

To the Editor: I am concerned about recent remarks by Councilwoman Emma Tropiano that seem to show a lack of concern for a large number of people of the City of Allentown. I have heard and read of generous efforts on her part to aid a few individuals. That is fine, even commendable, but at the same time she has opposed programs that potentially benefit thousands in the community. Safety seats for children opposed, the Bureau of Human Relations and Economic Opportunity attacked, dedicated city staff members singled out for undeserved attacks, the historic districts opposed, the Community Development Block Grant Program, with its solid record of achievements, criticized - these positions indicate unresponsiveness to larger needs.

Paul Shealer asks people attending a community forum in Lehighton to name their major concerns about land use while Lee Wenner writes the responses on chart. Shealer and Wenner work for the Carbon County Extension Service, which sponsored the forum on Sunday to discuss the county's future.

To the Editor: Sen. Joseph Uliana, along with Northampton County Executive Glenn Reibman, showed good sense and courage last week when they did their best to wake up the Lehigh Valley to the realities of stadium "development." As has become the fashion, they were raked over the coals for raising valid concerns. Once again, the Lehigh Valley has found itself unable and unwilling to take a hard look at this and, at the very least, discuss the ramifications of using this money for a project that ran out of steam a long time ago. APRIL HERRITY BETHLEHEM

In response to the Jan. 22 article about the fatal accident at the Atlantic States plant in Phillipsburg: I worked there in the early 1990s for four years. My experience was that the major concerns were production and profit before anything. Safety was then what it is now, just an afterthought. I left because of safety concerns, but I still have friends who work there. I pray for their well-being, along with anyone who works for the plant. John Schaffer Bethlehem .

To the Editor: In reference to all the people who want "school choice" -- just where do they think the money will come from? Oh yes, another small thing comes to mind: separation of church and state. KEITH TREXLER ALLENTOWN

- Whether the Philadelphia Eagles stayed true to their draft board in May or reached just a little to select outside linebacker Marcus Smith out of Louisville might never be known to anyone outside their war room. What cannot be debated is their obvious desperation to improve their pass rush as they continue to re-shape the defense they inherited to a 3-4 base under head coach Chip Kelly and defensive coordinator Billy Davis. Doesn't matter to them if the extra pressure they seek comes from up the middle, outside or blanket pass coverage that forces quarterbacks into holding the ball too long.

Should Cowboy fans be concerned that Tiger Woods had to withdraw from the final round of the Bridgestone Invitational? How does that have any impact on the upcoming football season? It doesn't. But the golfer's struggles to return to form are why Cowboys officials and fans will be holding their breath when it comes to Tony Romo. The quarterback underwent a microdiscectomy seven months ago to relieve the pain in his lower back. Woods had the same surgery. "Tony Romo had the exact same procedure I did," Woods posted on his website earlier this year.

Margaret Paschal was sitting in her living room working on her computer when a shooting occurred in Wilson. She said she "hit the floor" until the shooting stopped. Susan Caloman said she also heard the shots and ran outside to see one of the 22-year-old shooting victims bleeding on the ground. She sat with him until police arrived and is still traumatized from the experience. Both residents were among dozens who crowded into Wilson Council Chambers on Monday night, demanding to know what council is going to do to curtail the borough's rising drug problem.

The state attorney general's office has concluded its investigation into the finances of the National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem and construction on the long-overdue project could begin this fall, according to museum interim CEO L. Charles Marcon. Marcon said Friday it could take up to two weeks for Attorney General Kathleen Kane's office to issue its recommendations, and while its findings likely will not seek to close the museum or turn its operation over to another organization, the museum board will not escape unscathed.

South Whitehall Township officials want to get a clearer handle on how a group of state road projects will affect traffic within their borders. Director of Administration Howard Kutzler told the Board of Commissioners that they plan to address the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission regarding three scheduled Department of Transportation projects that impact the township. Of concern to the township are the widening of Route 22 at the interchange of 15th Street and Mauch Chunk Road, as well as the widening of Route 309 at the Tilghman Street interchange and north of Walbert Avenue.

Concerned that Hanover Township, Lehigh County, will get much of the traffic from a proposed FedEx Ground facility in Allen Township but none of the tax revenue, Hanover officials sat down Wednesday with representatives of the developer to hash out specific issues. New York-based Rockefeller Group is developing land on Willowbrook Road in Allen Township, a portion of which could become a hotly debated, $335 million FedEx Ground megahub. The Pidcock Co. of Allentown, which prepared the required Transportation Impact Study at the Rockefeller Group's request, estimated the development would add 14,602 trips by vehicles during the average workday.

To the Editor: Since The Morning Call has deemed it necessary to provide more coverage than the resignation of Whitehall girls basketball coach Todd Painton deserves, it is only fair that another opinion be heard. As one of the parents, I can tell you without hesitation that the parents have acted with care, clarity of purpose and integrity since last January to bring serious concerns about our children's safety and welfare to the attention of the appropriate high school administrators.

Gloria McVeigh considers herself pretty savvy relative to the safety and pitfalls of technology, so much so that she's taken to helping her older neighbor, a novice, with his online banking. So she was a little startled Wednesday to learn how much of her personal information may be getting tracked as she sends emails and surfs the Web, who may be monitoring that kind of information and the prevalence of that online tracking. "I just want to go home and check a lot of things," McVeigh said.

Phillies reliever Jonathan Papelbon has been known for saying what's on his mind. That was the case once again Wednesday when Papelbon spoke to beat reporters in Milwaukee. While Chase Utley has made it clear he wants to stay in Philadelphia, Papelbon expressed the exact opposite. " Some guys want to stay on a losing team?” Papelbon asked reporters after Wednesday's 4-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. “That's mind-boggling to me. I think that's a no-brainer.